Pacman Jones gets two-year deal from Bengals

When he signs his new two-year contract today or Monday, the seemingly inevitable will happen - cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones will become a Cincinnati Bengal. And given Pacman's off-field history, and the Bengals' history of taking on troubled players, the only question is why it took so long for this to happen after Pacman tried out for the team in February. After displaying major skills with the Tennessee Titans in 2005 and 2006, Jones was suspended by the league for the entire 2007 season for a series of incidents in which he was interviewed by police. Jones' most notorious involvement was the strip club incident during the NBA All-Star weekend, when a fight and shooting left one man paralyzed. Given another chance by the Dallas Cowboys for the 2008 season, Jones was suspended six games that year for yet another scuffle, this time with a bodyguard provided by the team. In 2009, Jones was close to signing a contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. But an outburst that became a viral video staple, in which Jones dug his own grave in many different ways, put an end to that speculation.

Now, this. The interesting thing about this phase of Jones' career is that the abilities which allowed him to give up the fewest yards per target in 2006 (5.4 YPC on 69 targets, according to Football Outsiders' metrics) were pretty much shot during his time in Dallas. Jones looked slow and out of place with the Cowboys, allowing 6.4 yards on 51 targets. After that lost 2007, Jones' passes defensed dropped from 14 to 9; his interceptions from four to zero. And he showed none of the dynamic return ability that also typified his Tennessee career.

The move is low-risk for the Bengals from a financial perspective -- it's a veteran minimum flyer with incentives (and certainly language allowing the team various out clauses in the event that Jones can't stay out of trouble). How Jones might meet those incentives, even if he's able to regain any percentage of his former skill set, is unknown. In Leon Hall(notes) and Johnathan Joseph(notes), the team already has one of the best cornerback tandems in the league - unless there's an injury, Jones would be a nickel guy at best. Perhaps there's some room in the return game, but this looks like a depth signing - the kind the Bengals do all the time. They'll bring troubled players in on short deals, hoping they can help, but it's a "churn-‘em-and-burn-‘em" game for the most part. All Jones can do is keep his nose clean and seize the opportunities on the field when they present themselves. He'll also have to forgive the skepticism regarding the notion that he's capable of either act at this point in his life.

Related: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans

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Pacman Jones has all the partying out of his system

Despite some tepid interest from the Lions a few weeks ago, Pacman Jones remains unemployed and extremely available.

He's so available, in fact, that he's not afraid to text Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and remind him of that fact. From Nicholas J. Cotsonika at the Detroit Free Press:

"I texted him and just told him that I’m still available, I like what they did in the draft," Jones said today in a telephone interview. "It was just a simple text message. And he was like, 'Thanks. Keep your head up and keep the faith.' We left it at that."

I don't know if Pacman should like Detroit's draft too much. After all, they spent a third-rounder on a cornerback, Amari Spievey out of Iowa. Every cornerback on the Detroit roster puts Pacman one step closer to remaining unemployed.

What does he think, that the Lions will want him to come in and tutor the rookie? That he can be of value to the Lions as Spievey's wise old mentor? He might get back into the league, but I don't think he's quite at the "mentor" stage yet.

Anyway, Pacman also addressed the chief reason why he doesn't have a job yet: the omni-present character questions. He assures us that he's past that part of his life.

"I don’t do the things that I used to do," Jones said. "I don’t hang out with the crowd that I used to. I’m a grown man now. I have a little girl. I have a fiancée with another baby on the way. So them days are over with, the kid days. It’s about my family now."

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